Message to GED hopefuls: Take those tests now

Adon Martinez and Shamarie Lovett study in their GED class at Ventura Adult and Continuing Education as they prepare for their exam. There will be changes to the exam next year.

Ventura County Star

Adon Martinez studies in the GED class at Ventura Adult and Continuing Education as he prepares for his exam.

Ventura County Star

Students study in their GED class at Ventura Adult and Continuing Education as they prepare for their exam.

Ventura County Star

Changes will be made to the GED exam next year.

Ventura County Star

Joslynn Browne, GED instructor, gives papers to Tina Happell in class at Ventura Adult and Continuing Education as students prepare for their exam. Changes to the exam will take place next year.

Ventura County Star

Adult schools have a message for students working toward their GED diplomas — pass all your tests by the end of this year or you'll have to start all over.

"We're advising them to get busy right now and take the sections they haven't passed," said Mike Waters, principal of the Conejo Valley Adult School. "Many of them are getting the message to get it done now."

The GED certificate, a high school equivalency diploma, will change in January, and the tests students take will change with it. Students who haven't passed all five exams now required for the certificate by the end of December will have to start again with the new tests.

So adult schools are trying to get word out. They're calling or emailing students from years back who have passed only some of the exams. They're posting signs in classrooms and putting up alerts on their websites. Any tests students have passed from 2002 to 2013 will count, said Steve Thompson, assistant principal of Ventura Adult and Continuing Education.

The message matters because a high school diploma is more important than ever, adult-school officials said. More employers now require a diploma, and so does the military.

"We had a huge surge in people with the recession," Thompson said. "You can't keep a job or get a job without a GED."

The shift in the GED diploma reflects a change coming to K-12 schools — the Common Core State Standards, which generally require higher-level thinking skills. The new exams will no longer be just multiple-choice questions. Instead, students will get more short-answer and fill-in-the-blank questions.

Most adult-school administrators think the new test will be harder but better reflect the skills students need for a career or college.

"It's only going to get more difficult starting next January," Waters said. "But it's more appropriate to what a current education should look like."

Another major change: Students will take the new tests on computer rather than using paper and pencil. Adult schools are preparing up for the new format, which will make the tests easier and faster to give, and are training teachers in the Common Core standards.

Brenda Vazquez, 30, dropped out of high school to help her mother support their family. Now she wants to be a lawyer but first must work on her math and writing. The single mother plans to take those tests this month at the Ventura adult school.

"I feel stressed over the writing," Vazquez said. "When I write, I start talking about other stuff. I lose the substance. At the end, it's, like: What am I talking about?"

When students come to an adult school to start working on their GED certificates, they take placement tests that show which exams they may be ready to pass and where they need more work. Depending on the school, they can do that work independently or through more traditional classes.

"There are two types of students — some who need instruction and some who just need some reminders," Waters said. "There are some very bright people out there without high school diplomas. But there are also people with low academic skills because they dropped out early."

Now, students must pass five tests to receive their GED diplomas — in writing, reading, social studies, science and math. The tests are given over three days. If students fail any of the exams, they get two more chances each year. The average cost for the five tests is $140.

After the change, students will take four tests, with reading and writing combined into one.

Cynthia Sosa, 21, also a student at the Ventura adult school, hopes to pass math — the only test she hasn't passed yet — before the shift.

"I'm nervous," said Sosa, a single mother who lives in Ventura. "I haven't been in school for a long time. If I don't pass, then I have to start over. I'm praying about that."